The Relationship Between Inclusion, Absenteeism, and Disciplinary Outcomes for Students With Disabilities

Students with disabilities (SWDs) are more likely to be suspended or expelled than their general education peers and more likely to be chronically absent. This study uses 5 years of student-level data for all Michigan special education students to examine the relationship between educational setting, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes. Using within-student variation in an educational setting, I find that the degree of inclusion is associated with fewer disciplinary incidents and better attendance. However, the relationship between inclusion and disciplinary outcomes only exists for certain subgroups, and primarily for students who transitioned from more to less inclusive settings experiencing more disciplinary referrals and suspensions after these moves.

Impact of The Community Eligibility Provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on Student Nutrition, Behavior, and Academic Outcomes: 2011–2019

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows high-poverty schools participating in US Department of Agriculture meal programs to offer universal free breakfast and lunch. Authorized as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, CEP became available to eligible schools nationwide in 2014. Emerging evidence suggests that schools that provide universal free meals experience positive impacts on student nutrition, behavior, and academic performance. In particular, schools benefit from increased meal participation rates. There is mixed evidence of impacts on test scores and attendance, and limited but promising results showing improvements in weight outcomes, on-time grade promotion rates, disciplinary referrals, and food security. In this article, we summarize the growing evidence base and suggest policy approaches to increase the use of CEP by eligible schools.

Academic, Attendance, and Behavioral Outcomes of a Suspension Reduction Policy: Lessons for School Leaders and Policy Makers

Background: Exclusionary discipline (e.g. suspension and expulsion) is associated with lower student achievement, drop-out, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. Recently, states and school districts have begun to restrict exclusionary discipline, but there remains much to be learned about the potential impact on students. Research Design: I use a comparative interrupted time series to estimate whether a state policy prohibiting out-of-school suspension as a consequence for truancy affected student achievement, attendance, truancy, or disciplinary referrals. Findings: After testing a variety of specifications checks, I find evidence of slight increases in attendance, particularly for disadvantaged students, with suggestive evidence of improvements in test scores and reductions in disciplinary referrals for some students. Conclusions: These improvements were quite modest relative to what we might expect from an intuitively appealing policy and were likely influenced by incomplete compliance, particularly in areas serving more students from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds. Implications for policy design and school leadership are discussed.

Confronting our beliefs about poverty and discipline

Many school practitioners think of poverty as a kind of “culture,” characterized by dysfunctional behaviors that can only be corrected by imposing harsh discipline on students. Further, beliefs about poverty are often used to justify racial disparities in disciplinary referrals, achievement, and enrollment in gifted, AP, and honors courses, as well as to justify harsh punishments for “disobedience” or “disorderly conduct” or “disrespect.” Edward Fergus suggests that educators learn to understand their blind spots related to race and culture and to seek out feedback on the degree to which members of the school community experience bias.

An African American Student Networking Group in an Urban High School: Experiences and Outcomes

Educational disparities are deeply entrenched in U.S. society. Our research focused on a move toward equity and investment in one Midwestern charter school via the implementation of the African American Student Network. Participants were 15 male and 15 female students in Grades 9 to 12 who participated in the network for one semester. Qualitative analysis of focus group interviews revealed that students in the network experienced safety, support, empowerment, affirmation, and connectedness. Quantitative analysis revealed that pre- and post-test grade point averages (GPAs), disciplinary referrals, and attendance trended in promising directions although there were no statistically significant differences.

Four Critical Domains of Accountability for School Counselors

Despite recognition of accountability for school counselors, no clear set of interrelated performance measures exists to guide school counselors in collecting and evaluating data that relates to student academic success. This article outlines four critical domains of accountability for school counselors (i.e., grades, attendance, disciplinary referrals, and suspension) that can be generalized across primary and secondary levels, geography, region, location, and culture. The authors present a case study to demonstrate the four critical domains of accountability and establish school counselors as key players in promoting academic success.